


Passion

by Mierke



Category: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2017-12-09
Packaged: 2019-02-12 12:37:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12959364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mierke/pseuds/Mierke
Summary: Slight spoilers for 3x3 ("Josh is a liar"). Valencia takes Heather out to celebrate after she returns from her college graduation.





	Passion

**Author's Note:**

  * For [McBangle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/McBangle/gifts).



> Inspired by a request for Heather & Valencia friendship, what they do when they're not enmeshed in the middle of Rebecca’s drama.

Heather stood next to her parents, who seemed to be happily blabbering on to her. Valencia assumed they were praising their little girl for graduating, but Heather looked a little forlorn, as if she’d rather be anywhere else than where she was right now. Well, that’s where Valencia came in, swooping in to save the day.

She stalked up to the group, quickly introduced herself to Heather’s parents, and grabbed Heather by the arm.

“You’re coming with me,” she said, sure Heather would appreciate the save.

“Why?” Heather said instead, and Valencia came to a halt, a little unsure of how to continue (swooping in was _hard_ , why had no one ever mentioned that?). 

“We’re going celebrating,” she eventually replied, trying to put as much force in her voice as she could without coming over as aggressive. “If that’s okay with you, Mister and Missus Davis?”

“Of course!” Heather’s mom said, “You girls go have fun. This is a tremendous achievement, you deserve to celebrate in style!”

Heather, after a perfunctory goodbye to her parents, let herself be dragged along, but completely lacked any kind of enthusiasm. Well, that’s where she came in, Valencia decided. She had never had true friends before, and now she had them, she would not let them be sad.

“Wine?” she proposed, and Heather showed a sign of life, which Valencia found promising.

A little while later they were seated in a corner booth of a wine bar, their second glass in hand.

“It’s over,” Heather said, as she looked at the red liquid as if it could somehow transport her back in time. Or, at least, that’s what it seemed like to Valencia; Heather wasn’t among the easiest people to read. She might just be wondering whether it was good wine or not.

“It’s a new beginning,” Valencia replied. “This is-“

“If you are going to say ‘your moment’, I will kill you right now,” Heather interrupted. “I mean it. I will break this glass and use the shards. I’m innovative. I did a creative science class. I aced it.”

For a second it seemed like Heather would cry (or the wine was making her eyes water, who could tell?), but she pulled herself together. Valencia swallowed, not really used to being the one on the receiving ends of threats. But she would not give in. She had a mission, and Valencia Maria Perez never failed. She lived up to her chosen name.

“This is where you create a new start,” she eventually settled on. “Do anything you want. Be anything you want!”

“I want to be a student,” Heather replied. “I liked saying ‘I’m a student’. I even sort of liked studying.”

The contents of her second glass had vanished, and Valencia signalled a waiter to bring them a third. This evening called for a lot of alcohol.

As she looked at her own glass, full again, she sighed. It wasn’t like she was the poster person for going after what you wanted, or even for making something of your life, really. This wedding planner business had sounded wonderful in her head, but was she actually cut out for it? After all, she had always planned on opening her own yoga studio someday, and that hadn’t led anywhere.

“You could join me in my business,” she offered hesitantly, only half out of a terrified need to have someone close to her to blame for the unavoidable screwup. Besides, now she was her own boss, she could find someone to do all the tedious stuff for her, and wouldn’t that just be the best?

“No offence, but I am awful at being bossed around,” Heather said. “No, thank you.”

“That’s fair,” Valencia allowed. “I’m not sure if it will survive anyway, so…”

“You are awesome,” Heather protested, raising her glass to toast Valencia. “You can kick ass in anything you do.”

“It’s just so scary,” Valencia blurted out, surprising herself at least as much as Heather, who even looked up from her wine to look at Valencia. “I don’t know if I’m doing anything right and it’s so much responsibility and I am all alone.”

“You are the most capable woman I have ever met,” Heather said, and no matter how hard she looked, Valencia couldn’t detect even a trace of sarcasm, or a hint of ‘you’re a bossy bitch and it is wrong’ hidden underneath Heather’s sincerity. To her horror, her eyes were starting to water, and she quickly excused herself to use the bathroom.

For a moment she leaned on the sink, her eyes closed against her own reflection. She hadn’t come out here to face her demons, she had come out here to cheer up Heather and she was failing miserably. She splashed some water over her face and took a couple of deep breaths. Then a couple more. Then a couple of quick breaths to get her energy back up and running, so she could face the rest of the evening.

After Valencia sat back down, Heather started talking, as if Valencia’s almost-tears had been the key to unlock this evening.

“I figured if I tried everything, something would stick, you know,” Heather said. She wasn’t looking at Valencia at all, but she was staring into the night. “I guess I waited for Prince Charming, just like every other girl, except I wasn’t waiting for a guy, but for a subject to be interested in for the rest of my life. I wanted _passion_.”

“You are, like, the least passionate person I know,” Valencia’s mouth unhelpfully supplied before her brain could catch up and tell it to shut up. 

“I know!” Heather said, in what for her must amount to an exclamation. “That’s why I was looking for something special. I see Rebecca going literally crazy over Josh, and in a way, I envy her.”

“Me too,” Valencia murmured. “Instead, I always followed what I thought was my life plan. After Josh came home from New York, marriage was just around the corner, and then my own yoga studio would follow, and maybe we’d adopt a dog. Except, it wasn’t just Josh who never fit into those plans, it was me as well. And now I’m like… floating around at sea, and I don’t know where to go, so I just stay here, even though here is pretty awful.”

“I hear ya, girl,” Heather said, and she raised her glass for a toast.

Valencia clinked their glasses, and through her misery a tiny ray of light shone that bespoke of trust and friendship and all the other crap she’d always heard about but never really believed in.

“I feel like we should sing,” she said, and she was already reaching for the guitar that was just suddenly there, when-

“Don’t you dare.”


End file.
